1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fuse for use in a vehicle such as an automobile to protect a power circuit therein, in particular an improvement in a fuse of the type that is used by connecting fuse contacts thereof to cable terminals of the power circuit with bolts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a vehicle such as an automobile, an electric power is usually supplied from a battery mounted in the automobile, and various fuses are disposed to protect the battery from shorts caused in electrical equipments or electrical circuits therein. As a fuse disposed in an electrical circuit in which a relative large amount of electrical current flows, a fuse of the type that has fuse contacts connected to cable terminals in the electrical circuits with bolts to reduce contact resistance at the connecting portions and secure electrical connection therebetween is commonly used.
One of these conventional fuses is for example described in the Publication of the Japanese examined Utility Model Applicatin No. 60-15233, which is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional fuse 10 comprises an electrical insulating housing 11, a fuse element 12 disposed in said housing 11, a pair of fuse contacts 13 and 13 each connected at one end thereof to both ends of the fuse element 12 and having bolt hole 13a, respectively, and a housing cover 14 attached to the housing. The other ends of the fuse contacts 13 and 13 are protruded outside from the bottom of the housing 11 in parallel with each other when assembled.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conventional fuse 10 is mounted in a fuse mounting box 15. Said fuse mounting box 15 comprises a pair of fuse accommodating rooms 16 and 16 in which the fuse 10 is mounted, respectively. Each of said fuse accommodating room 16 includes two nuts 17 and 17 to which fixing bolt 18 is fastened, respectively. Cable terminals 19 and 19 each attached to an end of a wire from a power surface side or loading side are connected to the fuse contacts 13 and 13 of the fuse 10, respectively. Each of said cable terminal 19 is fixed to the fuse mounting box 15 by screwing the fixing bolt 18 which passes an aperture 19a of the cable terminal 19 and the hole 13a of the fuse contact 13 into the nut 17.
The conventional fuse 10 described hereinabove is fixed in the mounting box 15 by inserting the fuse 10 into the fuse accommodating room 16, then adjusting the position of the hole 13a of the fuse contact 13 to the position of the nut 17 and putting the cable terminal 19 thereon, and then screwing the fixing bolt 18 which passes the aperture 19a of the cable terminal 19 and hole 13a of the fuse contact 13 into the nut 17.
In the conventional fuse 10, therefore, there is a disadvantage that the operation efficiency when the fuse is replaced is inferior, since whenever the fuse is removed it is necessary to take the fixing bolt 18 off the nut 17. In addition, there is a possibility that the bolt 18 may be dropped and lost when the fuse is replaced.
Further, once the fuse is mounted, even if the fastening of the bolt is insufficient, it is difficult to find the fact from the outside. In this case, it is not possible to check up the fastening condition of the bolt by pulling out the fuse since the hole 13a of the fuse contact 13 is engaged with the fixing bolt 18. As a result, there are problems that a heat generation may be caused in the connecting portion of the fuse contact and cable terminal, and fusion efficiency of the fuse element may be deteriorated due to insufficient connection therebetween.